Ai Wan, seems to wield the Midas touch. Ai a Shanghai born film actress, returned to China after leaving moving to the US at age 10. Ai Wan lived every actresses dream by working in the entertainment industry in Hollywood. The trained dancer and former fashion model, landed roles in major studio releases like the blockbuster, Rush Hour, the first of Jackie Chan's popular film franchise. Ai then became a best selling published author in 2005 with the release of The Madness of Appetite a book that according her biography, a book that stayed at the top of China's best selling list for two years.

She is currently busy reincarnating China Doll her popular club two years after creative differences with a partner caused a split. China Doll was compared favorably to clubs in far flung party places in Ibiza, Paris and her former Los Angeles. The name China Doll was designed to appeal to foreign tastes and local pride. Ai is excited about the chance to create a new 2,000 square meter club/loft space atop the 3.3 mall in Sanlitun under her own terms.

Ai has come full circle with the reopening of the popular night spot. It all tarted some years ago in Melbourne after a trip to Federation Square a successful urban development project that some say revitalized Australia's second largest city. The square became Ai's muse and unlikely catalyst for a local club. "After touring the square with my friend Peter Davis, the lead architect of the project, I came away inspired by it's forms and energy." Soon after she co-founded Epic Design with Davis and began to create interiors for other successful nightspots like the Mango Room in Tango, Club Vogue and Banana. Other assignments soon poured-in.

Working in the US gave her a chance to exercise her creative talents: "Los Angeles broadened my horizons.) "[it] mixes culture effortlessly and that energy appeals to me. When I came back to China I was inspired to share that spirit and sense of community here however some "club owners wanted to copy each other." She bemoans, "The cookie cutter approach was what people expected. It was then that I decided to just go out follow my own vision. "I don't like hitting the same note." I am always searching for a dynamic the brings outside influences and a sense of community and unity." the genesis for the concept of the original China Doll grew out of her frustration from this experience.

Ai possesses a seemingly effortless ability to forge alliances may have given her the edge that allowed her to succeed where many fail. This year intense competition and a fickle, transient entertainment seeker may pose the biggest challenge yet for this former fashion model's business model. But while Ai claims to possess little business savvy she hired a Wharton Business grad with successful track record of managing a portfolio of clubs in LA as her current general manager, which hints that she is a quick study.

If all goes to plan, Ai hopes that her China Doll concept will evolve into a sophisticated entertainment brand. Further discussion about the club yields the prospect that we may one day see see a China Doll inspired hotel in the future.

Ai believes "Living in China can be a day-to-day struggle." and thus she said she values relationships with "positive people." When asked to explain her success in the night club business she says, "My investors know I like to share, create and inspire others." She prefers to steer clear of people in business who are looking for ways to take advantage of a given situation. "I do not intend to be greedy, my partners know that about me. Maybe It's not a savvy way to make money but I prefer to be a giving person." She values positive energy and working with talented people who share her passion to do "good work."

Sensing the challenges ahead, Ai plans to continue to surrounded herself with talented, individuals who can help steer her efforts and bring the business savvy she claims not have. "I like to work with people who bring the same passion for doing good work" She often refers to her friends and patrons as a "community of like minded artists."

She still maintains a strong connection with her first love--cinema. She is proud of her recent collaboration with director, Li Ying on the controversial documentary film Yasakuni. Ai has a producer credit on the film. Yasukuni is the infamous Japanese war memorial. Yasakuni the film, was the sole Chinese submission to be accepted at the 2008 Sundance film festival where in January it had it's North American premier. The Sundance website describes the film as follows:

'Controversy abounds as Japanese officials honor the deceased at the legendary Yasukuni shrine, where swords used to kill Chinese soldiers were famously forged. Few know about the shrine’s eerie past and the mysterious sword inside.'

Ai also continues to write, she recently co-wrote a screenplay titled the Phoenix Brassiere. When asked to explain the this title she offers this "I enjoy the beauty of human nature and the experience of sensuality." Her screenplay's title hints at rebirth and evolution a fitting symbol considering the trajectory of her career and the metaphor of the Phoenix seems fitting accomplishments despite setbacks.

Creating an entertainment venue in Beijing is risky and it begs the question, does Ai enjoy taking chances? She precedes to flash a wry grin and exclaim: "I have always been a risk taker." She then recounts her first time skydiving with childlike glee, "When I looked out the door I only saw clouds; I just took a running jump, I didn't get pushed out!"

Pull quote:
"We are all kids at heart, China Doll is a place to place for like minded people to play."

Sage Advice

'Trying to capture such a fast moving target as Beijing is no easy task,' according to Immersion Guides, the creators of Insider's Guide to Beijing. But if when have a staff of 40 plus 'insiders' to contribute articles and photos to a Beijing city guide, then your bound to uncover some fascinating and useful tips.

This year's addition of Insider's Guide arrived on our desk with a resounding thud; it's crammed with seven hundred pages of sage advice, tips and pictures. Of course there's an expanded Sports and Fitness coverage that includes everything Olympic. Its no svelte, boutique urban guide, but rather a bully of a tome.

Because of it's size this mini-me encyclopedia is not geared for the one-time tourist although one would be hard pressed to find a more exhaustive dissection on the Capital's merriment options, no, this Guide was written with the long-term resident in mind. It provides exhaustive coverage on domestic issues: kids, finding schools, medical care and even adoption. If you raise a family here in Beijing, the Kids section alone is worth the price of the book which lists at RMB 80

Stuffed in the middle of the already beefy Sports and Fitness section readers find another 20 + pages on the 2008 Olympiad: a gargantuan pull-out map with background and venue essentials, Chinese athlete bios and some interesting editorials. But the foot fighting (not joking) article seemed out of place. An Olympic Warm-Up Event calendar is more an illustrated 10-month timeline -- useful for those who want to see the venues up close but have no tickets but by the time our addition arrived there were only two more events remaining.

As the Guide says, we are facing two weeks of 'a different Beijing than we've ever known'. But with this Guide in hand. you'll weather-it armed with an advantage.

What's the biggest economic topic for 2008? In a word, inflation. From absolute obscurity only a few quarters ago, inflation has come raging forward to command the full attention of China's policy makers, global investors and even casual observers as “the” issue of the moment.

Definition: ‘Inflation is the loss in purchasing power of a currency unit such as the dollar, usually expressed as a general rise in the prices of goods and services.’

Today, inflation continues to be blamed on private greed, while governments still seek to restrain it by decree, sometimes even devaluing their currencies as they do so in order to make there exports cheaper and thus create demand. However for most companies, operating and financing costs rise due to devaluation-created inflation, stealing back any initial competitive gains.

In the news media, discussion of inflation often takes a ‘bottom up’ view. Each month's change in any given price index spills into every nook and granny of daily life such as food, electricity, heating oil, and housing. Sometimes policymakers speculate that if "price pressure" in those areas could be relieved, overall inflation could be reduced.

The prices of some items always are rising or falling relative to others. This is a natural feature of the way a market economy adapts to changes in supply or demand. Rapid price increases within a single sector, though often labeled "sectoral inflation," are partly the result of an adjustment in relative prices and partly a manifestation of the overall inflation rate. Yet they may have no causative significance whatever.

When we watch the tide come in at the beach, we know that it is not caused by the waves, however forceful they may be. Inflation is not simply the sum total of a collection of independent price changes, as the arithmetic of an price index implies--It is the degree to which all of those prices move in concert.

For seven years following the 1990s, the Chinese economy was in outright deflation, as the resulting glut of capacity eroded profits and forced final goods and services prices down. As late as January 2004, the official consumer price index or CPI, was no higher than it had been in July 1997. Prices finally began to rise on average during 2004, increasing at an annual pace slightly above 2 percent for the next three years, and economists and policy officials generally heralded China’s return to a more normal, “healthy” inflation environment.

Since the spring of 2007, however, the situation has changed radically: The economy, which had already been expanding at a real pace of 9 percent to 10 percent finally shot across the 11 percent growth barrier in the first half of the year. And consumer price index inflation, ticking over at 2.2 percent in January, rose to 3.4percent by May, then to 6.5percent in August, and by January 2008 reached a staggering 7.1 percent, with no sign of slowing. Inflation rates in China during February, spiked to a near 12 year high of just over 8 percent.

When we take a look at a cross section of sectors inflation seems to be broad based but some sectors are soon expected to see stable prices. Agriculture prices that spiked during the aftermath of the winter storms, barring another icy winter, are expected to slow. But housing in some may be at a rolling boil or at least a steady simmer for a while to come.

China's biggest appliance retailer Gome which also happens to be one of it's most profitable companies, could see slower sales this year as appliance prices are rising for the first time in nearly 15 years. Siemens announced an eight percent increase for refrigerators and up to a seven percent rise in washing machines. Chinese domestic producer Haier raised refrigerators prices by five percent and washing machines by up to ten percent. According to some experts, Chinese manufactures are facing enormous cost pressures. These are the highest growth and inflation rates that China has seen in more than a decade. In sharp relief to the past 20 years where the domestic goods market in China was oversupplied and extremely competitive -- price wars were common but price hikes all but unheard of.

A closer look at housing prices by city shows the average housing price in China's 70 large and medium-sized cities climbed 10.9 percent in February over the same month last year, 0.4 percentage points lower than in January, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. Prices for new apartments jumped 11.8 percent, down 0.4 percentage points from January, while prices for used flats rose 11.5 percent. Housing prices in Beijing were up 16.5 percent, 0.7 percentage points lower than January. In contrast, prices of new homes in Guizhou in Southwest declined 2.2 percent from the previous month, Chongqing fell 1.7 percent.

However food must be singled out as the biggest contributor to the current rise in consumer prices. Much of this Springs increase in food prices can be attributed to the recent snowstorms which crippled cities in Hunan, Guizhou and Guangzhou and have seriously affected the supplies of food. Egg, meat and dairy prices spiked by 40 percent year on year.

Local media reports that the government believes the inflation bout is temporary, and headline CPI growth should be heading back to around 3percent by the latter part of 2008. However some investors and skeptics say this bout of inflation will be harder to control as China is now more effected by outside market forces. These outside market forces may put upward pressure the RMB relative to its trade partner's currencies thus dampening export demand. It seems China economic policy makers are treading a fine line these next few months.

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Commoditizing stock photo

In my humble opinion, Stock Photography looks to be be susceptible to commmoditzing only because now the the work flow is entirely digitized, and now the cost of entry is lowered for aspiring artists and client's have unprecedented access to growing databases of low cost and in some cases no-cost content not available or even imagined even a few years ago. It may be that the model for stock can be done more efficiently and at a lower price then through the Studio / Agency / Art Buyer hierarchy. I say forget low-balling, the cliche of the level playing field has come to fruition and only the designers who can read the wind and change tack will survive-- Differentiate or Die.

The best article on design project mangement

As posted on the AGIA site - must read. As an American born design project manager working in a foreign country running a internationl team of designers, the ability to facilitate and provide leader ship to bridge cultural gaps I found was key and even paramount. While I had the ability to understand the technical side and even provide some design guidance, I often felt I failed in my role as the project's owner as I was not always able to facilitate at the right time and place, and bring the soft skills to the party. Emily - one of the best if not only complete introduction to the life if a Design Project Manager - -Kudos!

Link to article here: http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/why-a-project-manager

Open Letter to Design Firms in Asia

Good day, my name is Anthony Rosas

I am writing you in the hope that this letter finds you in a period of growth and in need (knowingly or by nature of this e-mail) of an experienced project manager with relevant design and creative project management experience who is in Asia looking for a new challenge.

In the past 15 years I have worn the hats of a Production, Traffic, Studio and Project Manager either at once, or simultaneously while working on a variety of campaigns in agency and corporate marketing departments, producing world class creative, advertising and marketing for some well known, international companies in the US and Asia, where I have recently crossed a two-year milestone of international work experience.

In late 2006, I was recruited to manage a pilot outsourcing program for Philips Design, recognized by its peers as one of the top global design firms. Our studio and creative staff of 12 served five, key business lines and provided cost effective, high-end, executional creative. We worked closely with our counterparts at Philips Design in the creation of product visualization (3D/ rendering), packaging, environmental design, visual interface, color trend research and traditional collateral all within a sophisticated brand paradigm. This challenging role required management of complex projects and tight deadlines. I worked daily with a multiple stakeholders including: Creative Directors, Product Managers, Account Executives, Operations, Staffing / HR, Creative and Traffic while leading and coaching my own staff of 12 communication, product and visual designers in a forward thinking, international work environment.

Suffice to say I love my career, the creative arts, and have a passion for helping to realize concepts and ideas into reality.

If this strikes a chord or at least a note, I would look forward to talking with you about a role with your firm.

Pleasesee my CV below or contact me at anthonyrosas@yahoo.com